– a book review-
Two farmers in France share their journey in creating a lush, bountiful microfarm with the potential to feed hundreds, even thousands, of people on only a few acres. Truly revolutionary and what many believe to be the future of agriculture.
Mainly, they give a brief overview of some of their methodology and challenges. Since they only really scratch the surface and never get specific about how other land stewards can tend to the garden – I give this one an 8/10.
Here are some of their practices!
- Mandala Garden. (Layout garden in the shape of a mandala to promote proper rotational cropping and honor thousand year old tradition.)
- Go Slowly.
- See problems as a resource. See waste as a resource. (When turning thin soil into vibrant soil, you’ll need tons, TONS, of “waste”.)
- The Hotbed Technique.
- The Forest Garden.
- Diversify, Diversify, Diversify. This is the most important point that the authors continually go back to. If you have an orchard, add chickens to munch on the tree scraps, aerate soil, and you can also use them for profit. If you have chickens, add cattle because the chickens will aid in spreading out their dung, thus helping in soil productivity (and another profit stream).
- Be wary of the end of oil. They spend a decent amount of time on this. When developing your farm, try to stay away from relying heavily on anything with a fuel tank that is not a mouth.
These are really only a handful of the dozens of techniques mentioned throughout the literature.
If you’re a beginner to regenerative farming, I’d totally recommend this. They do a nice job of showing you what’s out there and what you may be able to utilize. They are trusted and successful land stewards.
If you’re looking for detailed and concrete explanations of how to garden or farm, check out some of my other posts for recommendations!
Before I leave, I’d like to share only *one* of my favorite quotes from the book (although there were many lines that made me smile, laugh, and/or cry).
You think you can stamp on that caterpillar?
All right, you’ve done it. It wasn’t difficult.
And now, make that caterpillar again…
Lanza del Vasto
Thanks for reading! Comment if you’ve already read or are planning to read this wonderful book. Books like this give me incredible hope – I bet it will for you, too.
In Soil We Trust,
Tiffany
Bring Back Soil 